robt's blogquacious

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has suffered a potentially fatal blow to his authority after the country's supreme leader gave an apparent green light for MPs to attack his economic policies.

In an unprecedented rebuke, 150 MPs signed a letter blaming Mr Ahmadinejad for raging inflation and high unemployment and criticising his Government's failure to deliver the budget on time.

They also condemned him for going on a tour of Latin America at a time of mounting crisis.

The signatories included most of the President's former fundamentalist allies, now apparently seeking to distance themselves as his prestige wanes.